This invention relates generally to the art of article transporting, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for transportation and storage of wood for use as fuel.
With the advent of significantly increased fuel costs has come an expanded interest in the utilization of fireplaces, wood burning stoves, and other localized heating apparatus to supplement, and in some cases, replace conventional heating means. The burning of inexpensive wooden logs in such apparatus has been found to be a significant savings over the cost associated with fuel oil, gas and electricity.
Normally a supply of logs is maintained in a large inventory on the exterior of a dwelling exposed to the out-of-doors, and a small inventory is maintained near the wood burning apparatus. There has, thus, evolved the problem of transporting logs from the exterior of a dwelling to the interior without soiling or tracking the interior of the dwelling while so doing.
Various attempts have been made to provide apparatus or carts for transporting logs. A problem with the use of carts is the tendency of the wheels to track debris from the exterior of the dwelling to the interior thereof.
An attempt to overcome this problem has involved the use of a cart within a cart, whereby one cart is utilized on the exterior of the dwelling to move logs and the smaller cart to the dwelling entrance whereupon the transported carrier is removed from the larger carrier for use within the dwelling.
Within the patent literature, various utility carts and handtrucks have been devised for multiple uses. Examples of such apparatuses are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,104,890; 3,785,669; 2,884,257; 2,598,261; and 1,374,372.
While many devices have managed to reduce the manual labor required for log moving, there has been no totally satisfactory device which eliminates the spreading of debris from the exterior to the interior of a dwelling without making a transition at the threshold.